Forgive and Forget
by Red On My Ledger
Summary: Set after the Ferris Wheel incident. Specials are finding it harder and harder to be within a society that doesn't see them as human. While others are trying to lay low and live normal lives, Sylar is trying to find forgiveness.
1. Chapter 1

Sylar really had been trying, more so than people gave him credit for. Well, most people. Peter Petrelli was not like most people. After a long night filled with tears and apologies, the two had finally ironed things out enough to try and put the past behind them.

"I can't change the past," Sylar had told him. "But, you have to believe me, I wish that I could."

Sylar was surprised that Peter had forgiven him, to be honest. If the roles were reversed and Peter had killed Sylar's brother (along with all of those other innocent people), Sylar wouldn't be so quick to forgive. Then again, Peter had always been the better man.

But even Sylar was a little shocked by Peter's ability to forgive and forget.

And being behind The Wall inside of Sylar's mind had definitely made their discussion in the real world easier to schedule and sit through. Sylar wasn't so sure that Peter would have even heard him out had he not gotten to know him at least a little when they were trying to break down The Wall.

It had been six months since the two had started in on this unconventional and unexpected friendship, and Sylar was finding new ways to fight down The Hunger every day - but that's not to say that it wasn't a constant struggle. It was an uphill battle, and it always would be, but the hill was slowly getting less steep.

Peter had seen how hard his new friend was trying, and had offered for Sylar to move in with him. "It'll make it easier," Peter had explained. "You won't feel so alone if your best friend is just down the hall." It was a good argument, a valid argument, but Sylar knew that there was more to it than Peter had let on. For the most part Peter was a self-less man, but even the heroic ex-hospice nurse had needs. It had been rough on the younger Petrelli brother ever since he and Emma had called it quits, and Sylar knew that the invitation to move in was not only brought on by the goodness of the hero's heart but also by the fact that Peter was lonely. He and Emma had been together for five months since the night of the Ferris wheel incident, but the two realized that they were better off as friends and Emma had promptly moved out and Sylar had almost immediately moved in, deciding that if Peter wanted to help him fight The Hunger then he wanted to help Peter through the break-up.

Sylar was just thankful that Peter's apartment had an extra bedroom. He cared about Peter, but not in that way.

Peter and Sylar's lives weren't the only ones that changed after Claire jumped off of the Ferris wheel. The public had not taken too kindly to the supernatural act and most had began to ostracize the Specials from the rest of society. There was still a rather large group of people that were supportive of the Specials, and even more that chose to remain neutral, but most had taken a hostile stance. It's not as if the hostiles could do anything about it though, not legally at least; there were no set laws against the people with superpowers, but they could definitely try to make things difficult for them. Specials had to be careful on job applications, on who they talked to, on just about everything really, because they never knew who was against them and they never wanted to take that risk.

In short, it was tough.

Peter had gone on to being a counselor for Specials, in an attempt to try and help them understand their powers and not worrying about the repercussions of working with the "less group of humans", and Sylar had taken on the role of bookshop keeper. He couldn't help but think of his old life as the shy watchmaker every time he went to work, but maybe that's what he needed to be reminded of.

Sylar hadn't talked to any of the other Specials since the incident, but Peter had. "Claire's in New York now, she moved here last month. Mohinder's still here, and I heard Matt might be in and out." Although the two were close, Peter was careful on what information he gave Sylar as far as the other Specials went. He knew Sylar was a changed man, but he didn't want to risk any possible problems or relapses and he knew that Claire wouldn't appreciate him knowing where she lived.

Sylar was known for being persistent, for going after what he wanted and not stopping until he succeeded, and right now Sylar wanted nothing more but to earn the forgiveness of those he had wronged. He was trying to change, and the change was happening, but it would certainly be easier if he felt forgiven by more people than just the one man who forgives everyone.

Slowly but surely, he would earn their forgiveness - or at least that was the plan.


	2. Chapter 2

It was Tuesday and that meant Sylar had dinner duty.

He had checked every cabinet and cranny in the house for something to make, but had come upon nothing more than a couple boxes of cereal and some crackers. He groaned in irritation when he finally accepted that the only way to fix the supper situation was to journey out into society and visit the grocery store. An action that wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't the holidays.

Sylar had never been a fan of large crowds (unless he was on the run and trying to blend in - but all of that was behind him now) and he almost turned around and got back in the car that he and Peter shared when he saw the amount of people shopping in the store. He decided to not give in to temptation (good practice for things besides this, he thought) and walked into the store, trying to ignore the headache he felt creeping on.

He had filled the cart with eggs, milk, other breakfast items, and was heading into the frozen dinner section (because those we're fast and handy and, dare he say, delicious) when he saw someone he was all too familiar with. A man shorter than him, rounder too, with an interesting hobby of reading people's thoughts.

"Parkman." Sylar called out down the surprisingly empty aisle. Everyone else in the store seemed to be crowding around the deli.

Matt tensed as he heard the voice and quickly turned to face the man who had called out to him. "You've gotta be kidding me."

He began to shove frozen dinners into his basket quicker so he could rush out of there, but stopped when Sylar waved a hand and the freezer door Parkman was holding open shut.

Matt took a step back, annoyed, and sighed. "What do you want?"

"Can't a guy just make friendly conversation?"

"With you, it's never just friendly conversation."

"Maybe in the past. I've changed, Parkman, you know that. No more ulterior motives, no more killing, I'm a new man." Sylar replied, giving the man a friendly smile that the man did not return.

"So, just like that, you're gonna stop?" Matt more so stated than asked. "Seems like you can turn your Hunger on and off pretty well."

"I didn't say it wasn't a daily struggle, but at least I'm trying. And I'm six months clean, so I have that going for me."

"Well, congratulations." Matt replied sarcastically.

"I know that what happened, what I did, was wrong, but I'm trying to make it right now." Sylar said, sincerity creeping into his remorseful voice. "I'm seeking forgiveness, not power."

Matt stared at him blankly, debating on reading the supposedly ex-killer's thoughts and deciding that A) He didn't want to indulge in this conversation any more than he had to, and B) It was probably a scary place in Sylar's mind. "And what will you do when the people you're trying to get to forgive you refuse to?"

Sylar paused before replying. "I'll wait, and I'll keep proving myself, and, in time, they'll have to forgive me." He sounded so sure.

"After the things you did, you shouldn't be expecting much." Matt replied. He opened the freezer door and letting the cool air blow into the aisle and reached in, grabbing a fancy dinner that could be microwaved and ready in five minutes.

Sylar watched as the mind reader walked down the aisle and disappeared out of sight. "That went well." He quietly said to himself as he sighed and finished shopping.

"You will never believe what happened today," Peter said between laughs as he hung his coat up on the hanger that say next to the front door to their apartment. "Seriously, man, it'll make you laugh." He walked into the kitchen, where Sylar was cooking some Italian dish, and sat on one of the island stools. His lopsided smile disappeared when he saw that his friend looked to be lost in thought as he mindlessly stirred the pasta on the stove. "Did you hear me?"

Sylar snapped out of whatever world he was in and looked over at Peter, his eyes apologetic and looking like a lost puppy. "I'm sorry, what?" He asked, his voice soft.

Peter forced the smile to come back, though he felt worry starting to set in. He tried to ignore the vast amount of emotions emanating off of his friend. "I was just saying that something crazy happened today..." He couldn't ignore it any longer. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." Sylar replied quickly.

"Don't lie, you're supposed to be turning over a new leaf."

Sylar stopped stirring and leaned against the counter opposite Peter. "That's what it is."

"That's what what is?"

"The problem." He sounded sad. "I ran into Parkman today."

"Oh, he's in town?"

"I guess so, don't know for how long though." Sylar sighed. "He got me thinking, about this forgiveness thing... I don't know if it's going to work."

Peter looked up at the man, his eyes sad. "Why wouldn't it work?"

"Do you know how hard it's going to be? Trying to get all of these people to forgive me?" Annoyance and sadness were mixing on his voice, battling for the number one spot as the ex-villain tried to explain. "Talking to Parkman was awkward and tense and... I'm just thinking about how things are going to go with everyone else, and so far I'm thinking that they're not going to go too well."

"Well, you never know unless you try." Peter said, knowing how cheesy he sounded but trying to diffuse the doubt coming off of Sylar. "You got me to forgive you, and that was a pretty long shot." Peter stood up and walked around the island towards Sylar. "You have to try, man. You're doing so good, you can't give up, not now. It's just going to take some time, and you're a patient guy - I have faith in you." Peter placed a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder and smiled at him.

Sylar forced a smile back, though he still looked unsure. "What happened today that was so crazy?"

"These two brothers came in and were telling me about how they had gotten in a fight with this bully at school and had realized that they were pyrokinetic and set the boy's pants on fire." Peter held back a laugh. "I asked them if they were sorry about what had happened and they said no, that they just wanted to brag about it."

Sylar looked at him. "And?"

Peter laughed. "And what?"

"Where's the funny part?"

Peter just stared at him, confused. "That... That was the funny part."

Sylar cocked his head to the side slightly and chuckled. "You make no sense, Peter."

"Well I thought it was funny." Peter said, walking back over to his seat at the island. Sylar went back to stirring the pasta. "His mother didn't find it funny either; they're facing lawsuits and it turns out that the bully's dad runs Old Navy and he isn't allowing that family in any of the stores any more."

Sylar snickered, "Okay, well that's kind of funny."

"What is?"

"They're banned from Old Navy."

"That's not funny, that's a bad thing. They will never be able to go into an Old Navy ever again."

"As if that's such a bad thing." Sylar's snickers had turned into laughs.

Peter shook his head but couldn't help but to laugh along. "You're horrible."

"I guess they'll have to switch over to the Gap."


End file.
